If you’re not brain-deep in publishing on a regular basis, you might not know just how little input an author has on the cover of her or his book. If you’re lucky, you get to see cover sketches. Perhaps you even get a chance to weigh in on various cover designs. For me, this was…
Tag: Publishing
Seasons of Saffi
I love the way cozy mystery series take the reader from season to season. The blaze of a beachside read as I swelter beneath the sun gives way to the chill of a spooky autumn tale read beneath the snuggliest blankie. Kids dressed as spooks crunch through leaves to collect treats from grownups dressed as…
The Power of Reader Reviews
Things I love about writing: It’s been such a rush to see friends, family, and many others opening up Murder at Last Chance Cove, the first book in my Pacific Northwest Cozy Mystery series, and giving it a read. I’ve heard such wonderful comments, including from a friend who swears my amateur sleuth Saffi Graywood…
Anticipation
If the word “anticipation” reminds me of a Carly Simon song, will I be dating myself? Or will the reference go right over your head? What I’m anticipating right now has nothing to do with the good old days of Simon’s music. It has everything to do with what happens once you turn a completed…
Story of My Life
Yesterday, my day-in-the-life story began as a tragedy with no brekkie and—far worse for a working writer—NO CAFFEINE! It’s no mystery that medical tests require sacrifices beyond those we’re willing to require of our characters. So far, I have never asked Saffi to go a day without coffee. I don’t think my readers would ever…
Home Base
RVers know that the road is only part of the journey. When you pull into a campsite there are tanks to dump. Hookups to be made—and I don’t mean the personal connection kind that come with sparks of attraction. I mean the water hose to the water spigot, the plug to the electrical outlet, the…
Genre-Shifting Writers
When I first started writing, I wrote what I read: fantasy, for the most part, and romance. (I was 20-something, so the latter was probably a given.) I came very close to publishing a romance novel with Del Rey. An editor read the manuscript I sent and liked it. If I was willing to do…
Gatekeepers
One of these people is a gatekeeper: an editor. The other is a hero hoping to be allowed through the gate: a writer. Which is which? Can you tell? Is it the one speaking, or the one listening? The speaker looks authoritative. The listener, earnest, perhaps eager…or intimidated. One of the most intimidating parts of…
Cozies & Kim Griswell 